| Topic |
Detailed Contents |
Rationale
|
| Proper Clothing |
Preferably workshop overalls and safety boots but if not :-
- Stout leather shoes that you don’t mind getting messed up, no trainers, no open-toed shoes
- Jeans or similar heavy cotton trousers, must completely cover legs, no holes
- Cotton shirt, long-sleeved preferable but not essential
- All clothing is going to get dirty, dusty and possibly burn marks
- For fire-safety reasons - NO SYNTHETIC FABRICS
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Staying safe from the hot metal spray
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| PPE and why |
- Overalls (sparks, UV)
- Boots (sparks, dropping things)
- Welding Gloves (sparks, hot metal parts)
- Ear protection (Loud noise/ultrasonics for long use)
- Goggles or welding mask (UV, flying sparks, grit, dust)
- Dust mask (Dust, metal fume headaches)
|
Protection from the specific hazards
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| Area Safety |
- Fire precautions
- Clearing area of flammables
- Getting fire extinguishers handy
- Everyone knows how to use one?
- Sounds level warning to other people
- Dust warning to other people especially if cutting anything other than carbon steel
- Good ventilation because of Ozone/NOx/Metal fume
|
Keeping other people safe around you
|
| Electrical Safety |
- Avoiding wet areas (but mention industrial water-damped cutting)
- No Extension leads!
- Main terminal on power supply is live all the time at 100V
|
Let's not get anyone electrocuted
|
| Metal fume/dust hazards |
- General hazards of fine dusts, tendency to respiratory issues and headaches, need for for dust masks
- Hazards of galvanized metal, properly preparing galv and cleaning it
- Why are we restricted to carbon steels? (Cr2O3, Al2O3, NiO, CuO etc.)
- Is there interest in cutting other materials? (Will organize if wanted)
|
Metal dust and fume are long term health risks
|
| Basics of plasma cutting |
- What is plasma, how and why does it cut through metal
- What can be cut - Any metal, but safety issues on anything other than plain carbon steels
- Inspecting compressor and cut-50
- Looking for any defects or damage
- Are the shields and gaurds in place?
- Checking compressor oil level
- Venting the compressor
- Are the regulators all the way out?
- Testing the compressor safety valve
- Are the hoses and cables in good condition?
- Fitting the consumables, how to examine, check, what constitutes too much wear, show examples of excessive wear if we have any available
- Connecting up the equipment, noting that the air source needs to be reasonable clean and water-free, what will happen if it isn't
- Torch safety, electrical hazards, air injection issues, firing out of grit and possibly parts of the head if damaged, must never be pointed at people
|
Basics of how the process works and is used
|
| Proper settings for the job |
Selecting proper pressure and how to cascade the regulators to give smooth regulation. How to choose a suitable current for your job (10A + 5A/mm for steels, more for aluminium or copper)
|
Getting the settings right for a smooth cut
|
| Cutting |
- Preparing material using angle grinder/wire wheel
- Consider contaminants
- Getting good ground contact
- Using guides, both metal and wood, possibility of laser cut guides
- Clamping work consider what’s underneath and on the underside
- Torch perpendicular and slow even movement
- OK to brace on the material
|
The main procedure for actually cutting into things.
|
| How to recognize problems |
- Demo on thin sheet
- Show a good cut, too much current, too little current, too little air
- Practice on thin sheet till it's working well
- Piercing through tin sheets
|
So you can recognize issues when they happen
|
| Cutting on thicker materials |
- Cutting speed and watching spark angle (15-20 deg) if possible
- Flick-finishing
- Piercing thicker sheet at an angle
- Descaling use
- Demo & Practice
- Maximum thicknesses that can be cut
|
Cutting thicker materials at lower speeds
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| Other topics |
- Piercing into enclosed spaces
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Miscellaneous other topics
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